Join the Team, Strike Out Teen Suicide

For this event, we realize that your efforts to participate are just a small part of what we can accomplish with a concerted effort by everyone involved. We need help from your team to collect donations to bring to this event. We feel that if every team were to bring $100 of additional donations to the event (in addition to what we will be donating through the event), that we begin to generate an event that will donate significant funds to NAMI-KC and their educational efforts.

As part of the Walking Beside movement, we see this event as an opportunity to partner with our teams and players to develop an understanding in those that we are teaching and coaching. An understanding of community and service to others in an effort to grow within ourselves. These connections and bonds are at the root of combating Teen Suicide.

One of the greatest impacts we can make is to fund and support educational programs and outreach efforts. We encourage and challenge you as a team to help find a way to generate a donation on your behalf to NAMI and the efforts to combat Teen Suicide.

Memorial Day NIT "Lifting the Stigma on Teen Struggles"

We will be tying in this event as the flagship event to help promote NAMI. NAMI is the only organization which specifically supports the mentally ill and the family members of the mentally ill throughout the greater Kansas City area. Over the last three seasons, we have hosted an awareness benefit tournament for NAMI.

One of the greatest impacts we can make is to fund and support educational programs and outreach efforts. We encourage and challenge you as a team to help find a way to generate a donation on your behalf to NAMI and the efforts to combat teen suicide. For this event, we feel that if every team were to bring $200 of additional donations to the event (in addition to what we will be donating through this event), we would be able to donate a significant fund to NAMI-KC and their educational efforts. We see this event as an opportunity to partner with our teams and players to develop an understanding in those that we are teaching and coaching. An understanding of community and service to others in an effort to grow within ourselves. These connections and bonds are at the root of combating teen suicide.

The idea for this event was an experience that one of the owners of MSP, Jeremy McDowell had in late 2009. One of his teenagers had battled depression and was diagnosed in September of 2009. They took all the proper steps with seeking professional help and getting their teenager to counselors and psychiatrists. Jeremy’s family learned a lot about depression and found out immediately they were very uneducated about depression and mental illnesses overall because of the stigma put on mental health by the general public. Just when it appeared everything was headed in the right direction their teenager had a serious suicide attempt in March of 2010. Read More...

Facilities & Age/Division Info

In 2014, this event grew to 260 teams and was played at multiple venues across the KC Metro Area. For this season, we will designate divisions to specific parks or portions of the city. We have split the parks into an East (including Adair Park, Frank White, Markey Park, Memorial Park and Hartman Park) and West (Field of Dreams, Mid America West, Stump Park, and Celebration Park) region. We will also have C Divisions for all age groups. They will be a part of the NIT, meaning that teams will earn 3x as many points, and we will DOUBLE the amount of World Series berths.

A/B NIT Prize Packages

Travel Fund Award

For this event, we are going to take a portion of the entry fees and put them towards a travel fund. This travel fund will be distributed to the winning teams of each age group.

12UA/14UA/16UA/18UA
Divisions = $50 per team

10U/12UB/14UB/16UB/18UB
Divisions = $50 per team

We will distribute to the winning teams as follows:

12 teams or less in a division

Champion = 70% of fund

Runner-Up = 30% of fund

13 teams or more in a division

Champion = 60% of fund

Runner-Up = 25% of fund

3rd Place = 15% of fund

NIT Event

This event will be a USSSA NIT. For this event, teams will receive triple the points they would for a Qualifier Tournament.

In addition, the World Series Berths that will be awarded double.

Yellow Wrist Bands

We will supply each player with a yellow silicone band that will be warn throughout the entire event and beyond to help increase awareness of mental illness and to help educate against the stigma that can increase the devastation and suppress treatment for those that truly need it.

Tourney Info

May 22-25, 2015
Memorial Day NIT "Lifting the Stigma on Teen Struggles"